Rescue: On August 20, Greene County 911 center contacted DEC Central Office Dispatch to report a 52-year-old female hiker at Katterskill Falls had slipped from a standing position. The women sustained a laceration to her head and temporarily lost consciousness prior to Forest Ranger arrival. Three Forest Rangers and an Assistant Forest Ranger responded along with local fire department personnel. The woman's injuries were assessed and treated in the field. With the aid of Rangers and volunteer rescue personnel, the woman walked out of the woods to a waiting Hunter Ambulance crew on State Route 23A. The subject was transported to Albany Medical Center for further treatment.

It's quite amazing to think about how much pure happenstance can be the difference between a non-eventful day outdoors, and significant injury or death. Out of the thousands, if not not tens of thousands of steps you take on a hike, how many come within an inch - over the same benign looking ground - of a slip, fall, and injury?